Spendesk Connect: AI, automation and the future of finance

Spendesk Connect 2025 brought together finance leaders, product experts and industry pioneers. The focus? Practical innovation that delivers real results.

In this second edition, we advanced our AI vision, showcased the latest platform capabilities and announced Spendesk Travel.

Explore the highlights and key moments from this year's event and discover how Spendesk is transforming spend management.

Missed the event? You can still catch the replay.

1. The future of AI at Spendesk

Axel Demazy, CEO of Spendesk, opened the event with a bold vision for the future of finance:

The question isn't whether AI will transform finance – it's how quickly and whether your team will be ready. With billions of proprietary spend data points, Spendesk is uniquely positioned to help finance teams navigate this transition.

Our AI strategy rests on three core principles:

• Putting powerful AI tools at your fingertips: Making complex decisions simple with intelligent recommendations.

• Harnessing our unique spend data: Leveraging real transaction data to deliver accurate, contextual insights.

• Being native to the moment of the spend decision: Providing guidance exactly when and where it's needed.

Work better: More automation and agentic AI

Beyond strategic planning, Spendesk agents will transform day-to-day procurement.

Our autonomous agents will:

• Warn you before a budget overheats and propose scenarios to get back on track.

• Benchmark your spend against peers and recommend concrete actions.

• Anticipate cash shortfalls and suggest the next steps.

They'll also transform procurement:

• Recommend suppliers most used by companies like yours.

• Show pricing benchmarks for companies like yours.

• Pull in ESG ratings and real customer reviews.

• Calculate your carbon footprint from P2P activity in real time.

• Flag high-impact categories and suggest lower-carbon alternatives.

This isn't just our vision — it's our roadmap, with features rolling out progressively in the coming months.

Spend smarter: The emergence of SP&A

Rodolphe Ardant, Founder and President of Spendesk, introduced a game-changing concept:

Just as FP&A transformed financial planning, Spendesk is pioneering SP&A (Spend Planning & Analysis).

2. Autumn releases: 25+ updates

Natalie Economides, Senior Product Marketing Manager, showcased over 25 new features across integrations, budgets, payments and procurement.

New accounting integrations – coming soon

Connect seamlessly with ACD, Exact Online and Odoo for automatic two-way data sync. These integrations will join our existing native connections with DATEV, NetSuite, Sage and more. Join the beta programme to get early access.

Budgets on lock – coming soon

Two powerful new capabilities will give you unprecedented budget control:

• Deeper sub-budgets: Organise budgets into cost centres, expense categories, and custom fields for detailed, real-time tracking.

• Travel budget requests: Employees submit travel budget requests pre-trip so you can approve costs upfront and track spend vs budget in real time.

Frictionless spend

Three major updates make spending easier than ever:

• Apple Pay: Add Spendesk physical and virtual cards to Apple Pay – available in the UK and most European countries.

• International Wire Transfers: Pay global suppliers and save up to 60% compared to traditional banks – available now in the EEA and coming soon in the UK.

• Physical card spend controls: Apply your company's "required information" fields for spend made on physical cards.

Faster procurement

Procurement workflows just got significantly more efficient with auto-sent vendor portal links, upfront analytical fields, auto-approval capabilities, and direct category management for procurement managers.

Explore the full list of updates in our Autumn 2025 release notes.

3. Product roadmap: What's coming next

Rodolphe Ardant returned to the stage to share exciting news:

This milestone means we can accelerate product innovation even faster, with over 80 features and updates released this year alone. The next 12 months will bring major enhancements across four key areas:

• Fast month-end closing: Expanded accounting integrations and enhanced automation to help finance teams close faster with less manual work.

• Wallet and payments: Greater flexibility in how you manage funds, with expanded international payment capabilities and faster fund movements.

• Procure-to-pay: Deeper visibility and control from purchase request through to payment, with enhanced reporting and analytical capabilities.

• Workflows and policies: AI-powered tools to automate policy enforcement and budget management, reducing manual approvals while maintaining control.

4. Introducing Spendesk Travel

The biggest announcement of the day came from Becky Dutta, VP Customer.

Spendesk Travel is coming in 2026, at no extra charge for existing customers.

This groundbreaking addition to the Spendesk platform brings together booking, payment, and reconciliation in one seamless experience:

• Zero tool-switching: Book, pay, and reconcile in Spendesk with receipts and VAT automatically linked.

• 75% faster bookings and approvals: One in-context flow replaces multiple disconnected systems.

• Real-time visibility and savings: See travel spend as it happens, with 24/7 multilingual support.

Spendesk Travel represents the natural evolution of our platform – bringing the same control, visibility, and automation you enjoy for cards, expenses, and invoices to business travel.

Join the waiting list to be among the first to access this game-changing capability when it launches.

5. E-invoicing briefing: Preparing for European mandates

Gabrielle Poirette, Product Manager for Invoice Automation, provided a comprehensive overview of the e-invoicing regulations rolling out across Europe. With mandates coming into force in France, Belgium, Germany, and beyond, preparation is critical.

Why e-invoicing matters

Three key drivers are pushing European e-invoicing adoption:

1. Improve VAT collection and combat fraud: Structured formats and real-time sync with tax authorities.

2. Speed up AP/AR cycles: Automated processes, improved cash management and fewer disputes.

3. Converge EU and national agendas: Harmonise digital VAT reporting across member states.

Key milestones across Europe

• Germany (January 2025): Reception of B2B domestic invoices in EN 16931 format.

• Belgium (January 2026): Issuance and reception of B2B domestic invoices via Peppol.

• France Phase 1 (September 2026): Large and mid-sized businesses must issue e-invoices and e-reports.

• France Phase 2 (September 2027): All other businesses must comply.

How Spendesk simplifies compliance

Spendesk takes the complexity out of e-invoicing:

• All invoices are centralised in Spendesk: Simply designate Spendesk as your PA (ex-PDP) or Peppol Access Point.

• Seamless integration into existing workflows: Spendesk offers one tool for all invoice types (Expenses, Cards, and AP)

• Optimised lifecycle management: Spendesk automatically routes invoices to the right stakeholders for status updates, while providing a complete purchasing context.

• Effortless compliance: Spendesk handles registration, interoperability, and invoice format compliance.

French customers can register for our upcoming webinar to receive all e-invoicing communications and detailed preparation guidance.

6. Fireside chat: AI in action with Pierre Frey

The event concluded with an inspiring fireside conversation between Pauline Babel, CFO of Spendesk, and Benjamin Milot, CFO of Pierre Frey – a prestigious French luxury textiles and furniture company.

The discussion explored how AI is reshaping spend management across the full financial workflow, with candid lessons from leaders at the forefront.

Topics included:

• What's working in AI adoption and what isn't.

• How to turn AI capabilities into measurable results.

• Balancing automation with human oversight.

• Preparing finance teams for an AI-powered future.

The conversation provided practical insights that attendees could apply immediately to their own organisations.

7. CFO Connect Pro Membership

We've introduced CFO Connect Pro, a paid membership programme designed for finance leaders seeking in-depth learning opportunities, close-knit peer groups and practical support. The best part? It's completely free for Spendesk customers.

• Coaching for personal development: Virtual workshops and MasterMind sessions

• Community for real-time peer support: Private Slack channel and local chapters

• Connection for lasting relationships: Executive dinners and 1-1 member matching

This initiative reinforces our commitment to supporting not just your technology needs, but your professional growth and network. Learn more at our launch event on 18 November.

What's next?

Spendesk Connect 2025 showcased a transformative period for spend management. From our ambitious AI vision to practical new features, from Spendesk Travel to e-invoicing readiness, we're building the platform finance teams need to move faster with stronger governance.

These innovations are designed to empower finance teams with greater control, efficiency, and strategic impact. The future of spend management is here, and it's more intelligent, automated, and connected than ever.

Whether you're ready to harness AI-powered insights, prepare for e-invoicing mandates, or join the Spendesk Travel waiting list, there's never been a better time to see what's possible.

Request a demo today and discover how Spendesk can help your team spend less time looking back and more time driving growth.